Certain sensor systems involve nonlinear sensors that utilize a known time-periodic bias signal to excite the sensors to oscillate. A target signal is detected by noting its effect on the sensor's oscillation level-crossing statistics. These sensing techniques are accurately represented via the dynamics of over-damped bi-stable systems; as such, their solutions (in the absence of any driving signals or noise) are those that decay rapidly to one of the stable steady states of the detector system. Yet, for nonlinear sensors to effectively serve as detectors of target signals, the sensors need to be operated as a device that switches between its stable attractors, thereby enabling one to quantify the target signal via its effect on the sensor switching dynamics.